


Starlight

by arlesanna



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/F, Gen, Multi, Starfleet Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arlesanna/pseuds/arlesanna
Summary: A rebel and a dreamer, young Philippa Georgiou is accepted into Starfleet Academy. Talented and driven, she is an old soul born into the new world full of promise. Fitting in is proving to be a problem, not only for Philippa, but also for the Academy.Elegant and reserved Katrina Cornwall, exemplary student majoring in psychology, is not going to be pulled into her orbit. It's just an interesting case, a diamond in the rough. A great mentoring opportunity.Turns out, Philippa has a thing or two to teach her as well.
Relationships: Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca, Katrina Cornwell/Philippa Georgiou
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. First Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by gorgeous Philippa Georgiou who must have been a rebel like Starfleet has never seen before.

_August 20, 2220_

I.

The official ceremony was beautiful, if tiring. Philippa Georgiou kept glancing around, memorising the faces of her new classmates. She moved stealthily through the crowd, always in plain sight, exchanging remarks with one group or another, never staying long enough to be dragged into a conversation, everywhere and nowhere at once. The excitement level in the reception hall was deafening — everywhere she looked she saw sparkling eyes and radiant smiles. Champagne was flowing freely, but it hardly added anything to the sheer joy of being accepted into Starfleet Academy. Philippa smiled politely at Sam, whom she remembered from the final test day. So many dreams came true that day with thrice as many ruined. Philippa Georgiou had learned the hard way to never forget the less fortunate.

The lighting changed color to a soft lavender and she looked up for what must have been a hundredth time that day. The whole expanse of the ceiling in the grand reception hall was turned into a display, projecting views of space from Federation starships. All around the galaxy the Fleet welcomed new recruits with a promise of a brilliant future. Lavender meant U.S.S. Taurus and in Philippa’s opinion it was the most astounding view of them all. A nebula in al it’s glory, the white star in the center of it glowing softly through a glorious array of purple gas and blueish matter. It seemed like the nebula was dancing in the sky, and in front of it — a blue planet with three moons, forever watching the eternal dance. Philippa wondered if there was s life on that planet and if so, what it was like. Was the blue-coloured surface made up of water like on Earth? Were the habitants sea creatures? Or was it blue sands with mountain-high dunes? Was it cold or hot and would she be able to breathe freely? A loud applause broke her out of her reverie and Philippa tore her eyes from the faraway skies and turned her attention to the stage.

Superintendent of the Academy Admiral Taaslus Dei had just finished his speech and Philippa cursed herself for missing it, distracted with a heavenly dance above. The tall lean man was a Betazoid and his telepathic ability was legendary. She knew he couldn’t possibly discern her distraction, but felt a pang of worry all the same.

“And now, as tradition goes, we give the final word to one of our exemplary cadets.” He continued, gesturing to a young woman entering the stage.“Katrina Cornwell!” The woman shook his hand gracefully and Philippa couldn’t help but notice how elegant she was.

Interesting, she observed, that obligatory Dress Uniforms looked so different on everyone. While Superintendent Dei projected the air of military command, Katrina looked positively royal in her black Cadet uniform. Such poise could hardly be learned. She looked around the room calmly as she began to speak.

“I can promise you one thing. The most important journey of your lives starts today. Where will it lead you? What will you encounter? The possibilities are immense. We are fortunate to be allowed to even step foot on that road of discovery, and we must never forget that. In out darkest moments. And most importantly — in our brightest moments.

Today is a joyous day as we welcome you in Starfleet academy. Today is a grievous day as we mourn the loss of the U.S.S. Drake during the exploration of the Beta quadrant. Let’s honour the memory of the ship, her Captain Malroy West and her crew with a minute of silence.”

At that moment a white light exploded on the ceiling, now filled with names and photos of the U.S.S. Drake crew. A full minute passed before the white light subsided, replaced by a view of a burning red star. Katrina’s voice filled the now solemn room.

“The red star is called Rubicon, it was discovered by U.S.S. Drake and named by Captain Malroy West eleven years ago. He called it Rubicon because when this red giant explodes, part of the Beta-Quadrant will be forever changed. The force of the blast will send matter flying all through the galaxy. In a way, all things in the universe begin and end in disaster. Energy, pent up for billions of years, rushes out in a deadly explosion, tearing stars apart. Giants in the vast unknown collide, and the remains slowly gravitate towards the future, creating new worlds. New life. Humankind has been through enough disasters to know that no matter the desolation, the pain and the loss, there is always hope for a new beginning. Today that new beginning is you.

In the endless story of the universe we get to experience less then a chapter. Less then a page. Less then a sentence. One dot in that manuscript may encompass all of our known existence and beyond. So it’s up to us to make it matter.To strengthen our spirit, to broaden our horizon, to aspire to go beyond that little dot in the history of time. Starfleet Academy will assist you in that the best we can. Welcome, to Starfleet Academy, Cadets!”

The room erupted with applause as Philippa blinked away a tear. She felt deep sorrow for the Captain that didn’t live to see his star bloom into a space flower, and strangely, she felt sorrow for the star that had lost a father — someone the star was never meant to have, but found anyway. Someone Philippa lost as well. Now the orphaned giant is destined to live and die all alone in the darkness.

* * *

II.

Katrina Cornwell was talking to Gabriel and a couple of their fellow students when Admiral Taaslus Dei approached their group. She stood up straighter as the chatter quieted down around her. Dei smiled knowingly, resigned to the fact that most students were not fully comfortable around him. His large black eyes stopped on Katrina.

“Exquisite speech, Cadet. Not one the new recruits will soon forget.”

“Thank you for the opportunity, Admiral.” She felt a burst of pride blossoming in her chest and tried to stifle it, but Superintendent shook his head in light disapproval.

“Pride of accomplishment is meant to be felt in full, and then let go of to make space for new aspirations. But don’t let it go prematurely, it would be too much of a waste.”

“I will make sure to hold on to it for the time being, Admiral.” Katrina chucked, her cheeks were feeling very warm but she was determined not to lose her composure.

“Valiant effort.” Admiral nodded his approval and turned around to address a slim Cadet that was passing by. “Would you join us, Cadet Georgiou?”

For a spare second it seemed to Katrina, that the Cadet looked like she was caught red-handed, but the expression was so fleeting, Katrina thought she might have imagined it. The young woman looked tiny and fragile next to a tall Admiral Dei, but nothing about her said that she was even a tiniest bit intimidated by the Academy’s telepathic Superintendent calling her name. That in itself was an accomplishment of sorts.

“I would be honoured to, Admiral Dei.” Georgiou answered with a catlike smile, stopping to join their group. Katrina was surprised to hear her speak with a thick accent. Earth was a bilingual planet and accents of any kind were rare, Katrina couldn’t recall anyone speaking with an accent in the Academy. Then again she couldn’t recall anyone who remained unfazed when addressed by Admiral Dei and here she was, Cadet Georgiou standing next to her, calm and relaxed, strength radiating off her tiny frame as if she’s ready to pounce any second if need be, like a lazy, but deadly panther.

“I was just praising Katrina for her speech, and I could tell you’ve greatly enjoyed it.” Georgiou nodded, studying the Admiral intently, then turned her attention to Katrina.

“Philippa Georgiou. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”She bowed her head slightly as a sign of respect.

“Katrina Cornwell. Likewise.” Katrina smiled her most infectious smile and saw it reflected in Philippa’s dark eyes. She could tell the Cadet was very pleased, even if her face remained a mask of politeness and that knowledge was like a little secret between the two of them. Katrina didn’t know what this secret was exactly or why it was even a secret, but she liked it a great deal.

“Your speech touched me deeply.” Georgiou said very seriously, that thick accent of hers seemed to attach a tiny bit of extra weight to her every word. “A dot in the manuscript of time. I shall remember that poetic metaphor. Frightening, freeing, inspiring and daring. Just like the cosmos itself.”

“Just like any new frontier,” Katrina nodded, happy to have been understood so completely.

“Welcome to the Academy, Cadet Philippa Georgiou.” Admiral Dei said, taking his leave. “And not to worry, dreamers are the most welcome kind here.” 

“Thank you, Admiral.” Philippa turned back to Katrina. She offered no explanation for Admiral’s last words and Katrina decided firmly against asking. She introduced Gabriel and the rest of the group to Philippa when the sky above them turned black and then flashed orange.

Gabriel pulled her closer in the dark, his arm a welcome weight around her waist. “The D1408! Finally! I knew Aneka would chase it!”

“Aneka Astroff, what an ace, just look at that!” Mira, their mutual friend and a talented medical student, shook her head in awe.

Katrina looked up to watch the comet sear through the black of space. Aneka was truly showing off - her ship was running circles around the massive comet, dipping into its foggy tail.

A bright orange sun shone in the background, coating the show with a fiery glow. When Aneka got close enough, one could see the outlines of rock and ice, melting right off the comet as it leaned closer and closer to the sun. The Cadets in the hall fell silent, observing this wonder and trying to guess if D1408 will manage to escape the clutches of the sun’s gravity, or if it’s bound to fall like Icarus to it’s inevitable but nevertheless glorious demise.

Katrina’s eyes darted as if on their own accord to Philippa Georgiou’s awe-struck face. She marvelled at how innocent the woman looked, her eyes wide and greedy, her mouth slightly open as she watched the comet run for it’s life. For a few moments Katrina couldn’t look away. Cabriel’s hand on her waist was suddenly heavy and instinctively she moved away from him.She looked up from Philippa’s stunning features only to see the comet crashing full speed into the sun.


	2. Momiji season in San Franciso

_October 15, 2220_

Katrina stretched her back and pushed her chair away from the information panel.

“Elenor, how are you doing?” They’d been at new Cadet assessments for hours and Katrina felt it was high time for a break, a stroll in the academy Park in the warm autumn weather, anything to rest her mind and recharge.

The redhead closed the case that she was working on before Katrina could even finish her question. “Dying to get out of here and reconsidering my choice of specialization?Ugh I can’t believe we are stuck doing assessments while Command prospects get to go and do a Titan’s Turn and party after.” She stood up, and even her short spiky hair seemed indignant.

“The sacrifices we make for science. Shall we take a walk? Japanese maple alley is spectacular this time of year.” Katrina offered and Elenor happily accepted.

Soon, they were walking along a wide path through the flaming yellow-red maple grove. Katrina sucked in the fresh air greedily, smiling to herself. She always did love the smell of autumn.

“I bet you’re having even a harder time then I am with your gorgeous boyfriend having a blast near Saturn these days.” Elenor winked at hed.

Katrina shrugged. “Not really. I enjoy doing assessments.”

“No!” Elenor exclaimed, bumping Kat with her shoulder lightly. “Nobody enjoys assessments. I don’t even believe in them to be honest. Tell me, what did they peg you as at your assessment?”

“Command.” 

“Impressive. And yet here you are, three years later enjoying assessments. How did they miss that?”

Katrina just laughed at the cheeky remark: “They have no excuse I’m afraid.”

“See, my theory confirmed. They were obviously wrong.”

“What makes you say that?”

“If you got good success prospects in Command I highly doubt you’d pass it up for Psychology.”

“You mean you wouldn’t choose Psychology over Command?” Katrina was surprised. Elenor was a cheerful and easy-going young woman and they weren’t too close, but she never would have suspected her to be unhappy with her placement. So much for a psychologist. Elenor kicked the leaves on the ground lightly.

“Me? Never. I got “Humanitarian Studies” on my assessment. And then when I got my success prospects... All I’m saying is I would have preferred an action role for sure. Or anything more... Fancy, really.” Her coy smile showed, that by “fancy” she meant prestigious.

Ironically, while the Starfleet Academy was just about the most sought after learning center on Earth, inside the Academy there was a very rigid and unofficial idea of hierarchy of majors that began with Service at the very bottom and ended with Command as the coveted one. Sciences and Medical specialisations trumped Operations majors. Psychology was divisive — the major hadn’t been around that long, it was introduced less then five years ago. Humanitarian Studies were amongst the most interesting, as the student got to learn about the arts and culture of various civilisations, analyse and catalogue them for future generations. It was an exiting, if not a wildly flashy career opportunity. Katrina, however, couldn’t quite figure out how it was possible for Elenor with her bubbling energy and easy-going personality to get a high prospective success rate in Humanitarian Studies, meant for the thoughtful and sensitive. Katrina went on to inquire a little bit further:

“I was under the impression one could choose the major more or less freely.”

“Sure, if you get “Command” on your assessment, your success prospective in any given career would be quite high. So you get to choose. Me? Any action role had my prospects below 35%. I could try for some operations majors, like communication — there weren’t too many applicants so I could have been accepted. But then what? In the best case scenario I wouldn’t get expelled and then end up relaying messages on some sidelined little cargo ship.”

“There is no such thing as a sidelined cargo ship in Starfleet.” Katrina said playfully as between them they both knew that serving on a cutting-edge ship exploring the galaxy differed drastically from spending half your life on system-maintenance vessels like cargo ships or security ships that patrolled sector borders or starbases vicinity. People spent years on ships they were commissioned to. Katrina thought back to her boyfriend Gabriel Lorca. His prospective success rate in Command calculated at 67% by the end of his third year — very high by Starfleet Academy standard. There was only one person surpassing him with 69%, which made Gabriel annoyed to no end even if he tried not to show it. Her own percentage for psychology was over 70 and she kept in under wraps for now. Well, had been keeping it under wraps for almost six months, not that it mattered that much. She brought her attention back to Elenor. “So psychology is your safe bet?”

“You could say that. Although it doesn’t seem like it at the moment. You should see what I’m dealing with. Who did you get?”

“I got seven people. All very promising.”

“Seven!” Elenor shook her head in disbelief. “I’ve got my hands full with three. Have you conducted all the interviews? Have you been evil enough to assign Humanitarian Studies to anyone?”

Elenor scrunched her nose and Katrina had to laugh at that — she was beginning to really like spending time with the opinionated Cadet.

“You know I can’t tell you that. As for the rest, I’m almost done, I just need a couple more peer reviews. Just to confirm some things — wouldn’t want to make a mistake and derail someone’s whole career.”

“Right?” Elenor chimed in with enthusiasm. “Funny, how the assessments mean so much and taken strongly into consideration and yet it’s just 4th year students doing them! I bet the one assessing me didn’t know what they were doing. I don’t know what I’m doing, that’s for sure.”

“And you are worried about the review.” Katrina said matter-of-factly. All assessments were to be reviewed by a comprehensive panel of high-level officials, on the basis of which the Cadet making the assessment was evaluated, their assessment approved, adjusted or, in the worst-case scenario, rejected.

The truth was that a 4th year student should be well able to make an initial assessment. Maybe psychology wasn’t such a safe bet for Elenor after all.

“Of course I’m worried about the review! Aren’t you?”

Katrina shrugged. “I’m quite confident with my decisions. Also I’m pretty sure there will be some room for honest mistakes — we are still learning so as long as we give it our best effort I think we will be fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed with specialised training.”

“Yeah, unless we fail the review and get kicked off the major. That is also a possibility.”

Katrina chose not to answer that as she felt Elenor’s nervous energy building. Getting dismissed from a major was a very real possibility indeed as Starfleet was famous for it’s tough intake process. There was always a chance to reapply to a new major within the Academy, however if one was not accepted into a new specialisation, expulsion was imminent. Katrina wished she could be supportive, the truth was that dismissals from majors and expulsions weren’t rare. As if feeling her reluctance to dwell on the topic, Elenor went on to apologise:

“I’m sorry to be a bit negative about all this... It’s just I’m really struggling with my assessments, that’s all. One of them is really problematic.”

Discussing assessments was also strictly prohibited. Even though she was curious, Katrina didn’t want to ask Elenor who it was. She decided it was better not to know as they turned the corner and the young woman muttered. “Speak of the devil.”

There, on a bright carpet of fallen maple leaves a figure clad in black silk was performing the ancient art of Tai Chi. The slow and deliberate dance was accompanied only by the rustling of the leaves beneath the woman’s feet, the soft whisper of the wind among the flaming crowns of trees. Katrina froze, unwilling to disturb this unexpected and breathtaking composition of light, color and movement. Elenor followed suit automatically coming to a halt when Kat did.

It was Philippa Georgiou. Of course.

Katrina watched her carry on as if she didn’t notice the intrusion. Philippa was moving languidly from one pose to another, never slowing down or losing control. Up and down and around and down and up and a leg kick and up and around again — the Tai Chi was hypnotising, and with no one but the trees around them it seemed like the time itself had slowed down and they were watching a fighter in slow motion. And Philippa Georgiou was a fighter, no doubt about that — this was unlike any Tai Chi Katrina had ever witnessed before. It looked dangerous.

And yet it was in complete sync with nature. A reminder, that nature was a deadly thing in itself. Katrina grinned at her own musings and stole a look at Elenor.

Young woman looked proper annoyed and Katrina figured she wasn’t comfortable with their walk being interrupted. Judging by her earlier words about prestige, she cared about what other people thought of her a great deal, and could perceive standing here trying not to disturb a 1st year Cadet as humiliating. Katrina hoped that wasn’t the case. It was truly a privilege to witness this rare and delicate form of art.

The sun was setting, giving the scene an ethereal glow. The splash of orange and purple in the sky reflected in the trees, the long shadow chasing Philippa, the rays of warm light, illuminating the silk of her loose Chinese-styled outfit. Her movements seemed to be slowing down imperceptibly, until a few minutes later she stopped altogether, frozen in her final pose like water turned to ice.

Elenor elbowed Katrina lightly, visibly awkward. “Shall we go?” She asked quietly, making the silence that had engulfed them fall away. The spell was broken. Katrina tried hard not to let her disappointment show as she nodded. “Yes, let’s go say hi”,and took off, Elenor trailing behind her. As they approached the Cadet who was now packing some of her things into a large bag, Katrina saw a glint of metal but couldn’t figure out what it was exactly, when Philippa turned to greet them, her face a mask of politeness.

Once again, Katrina was surprised how tiny the striking woman looked up close.

“Hello, Cadet Georgiou, fancy meeting you here.” She beamed at Philippa, unable and unwilling to contain her excitement.

““Hello, Cadet Cornwell. Cadet Jansen.” Philippa spoke in a soft voice with that same thick accent and a slight smile. Elenor offered a faint greeting of her own as Katrina continued:

“I would apologise for the accidental intrusion, but it wouldn’t be sincere on my part, as I can’t bring myself to regret it. I have never witnessed Tai Chi performed with such finesse, so I would like to thank you for the privilege instead. It was mesmerising.”

Georgiou grinned: “My grandmother was the true master. I hope her spirit is around to hear you say that, she was never quite satisfied with my Tai Chi.”

“Tough crowd, your grandmother.”

“You have no idea.”

“Might I make an educated guess that you’re extremely well-versed in martial arts?” Katrina could already feel a plan forming in her head.

“My grandmother would probably say I’m fairly advanced.”

“That honestly is quite scary,” Katrina admitted, “but nevertheless, I think you should join our training group sometime. Could be fun.”

Every student in Starfleet Academy had to have obligatory training in mixed marital arts in addition to traditional physical, endurance and weapon training. Gabriel, however, insisted they allocate more of their already dwindling time resources to it so every other week their friend group gathered to fight it out. Katrina was certain Philippa could teach them a thing or two and secretly hoped she would be able to beat Gabriel, who hadn’t lost a single fight since they started. It was rather annoying.

“Could be fun.” Philippa agreed and they parted.

Katrina was lost in thought and busy imagining Gabriel’s face when this tiny 1st year beats him in combat. She could almost hear him being his typical arrogant self and then having his ass handed to him. She could. Not. Wait. She heard Elenor say something, but was too distracted to catch the whole phrase.

“I’m sorry?”

“I said, what a show off! Ugh. Can you imagine she could see us watching and didn’t even stop for a second.” Elenor said. Apparently Katrina’s assumption about her was correct.

“No, it wasn’t like that. She couldn’t just stop. Tai Chi is a spiritual practice as much as a physical one. It takes a lot of focus and concentration to do it at that level. It’s a trance-like state of mind she was in. We were truly lucky to see it, it is very rare.”

Elenor huffed. “Right. I already have so much trouble with her assessment, now I should add that she practices dancing in a trans-like state in her free time. That helps so much with her placement,” she finished sarcastically.

“It’s a martial art, not dancing.” Katrina said and saw Elenor roll her eyes. “Okay, now let’s go take a look at that assessment.”

“I though you were all about the ‘no discussing assessments’ rule?”

Katrina weighed her options, but curiosity got the better of her.

“I’ll check out your assessments before the review and lend you a hand if you let me satisfy my curiosity. Deal?”

“You got it. But I’m warning you, there’s not much to learn there.”

Somehow, Katrina was sure that was not true. There seemed to be a great deal to learn of Cadet Philippa Georgiou.


End file.
